Railways Now Launch Take Away Bedrolls: Know How Can You Avail The Facility

The Railways has now launched a take away bed roll scheme to enable passengers book bed sheets, pillow and blankets online at nominal cost. As of now, bed linen is provided to passengers only in AC Coaches and is to be left in the train after use.

You will no more need to carry your own bed linen or an inflatable air pillow for travel on Indian Railways. The Railways has now launched a take away bedrolls initiative that will provide take away bedroll kits at stations. The initiative is called ‘Personalised take away bedrolls scheme’.

The SchemeThe scheme is also called the E-bedroll services scheme since the booking for these bedrolls can be done online. All passengers with a valid PNR can book for a takeaway bedroll kit on payment basis.

Bedrolls are disposable. Hence, passengers can take them home after journey. Take away bedroll kits will be available in two variants.

Variant 1: Bedroll kit packed in a non-woven fabric bag consisting of two cotton bed sheets and one pillow at a cost of Rs.140. (Inclusions: Cotton bed sheets (02) and a pillow (01))

Variant 2: Blanket kit packed in a non-woven bag consisting of one blanket at a cost of Rs.110. (Inclusions: Blanket (01) (Packed in a bag))

The above cost is inclusive of all taxes and is uniform across India.

How to book a bed roll?The services would be PNR based. The bed roll can either be booked online from IRCTC Tourism (pre-paid) or bought across the counter at IRCTC outlets in the stations. The bedroll booked online would be provided to the passenger on their seat/berth. Passengers will have an option of booking either of the two variants available or both. The maximum of bedrolls allowed to be booked per passenger will be two (one each of either variant).

For online booking, the website asks for PNR number, validates the same and shows information on availability, cost etc. Passenger can book the required bedroll kits and pay through credit / debit / pre-charged cards and the bank charges for the transaction have to be borne by the customer. Booking will be confirmed at the website and also through e-mail and SMS.

The Bedrolls service will be available only between 6am and 10pm. In case of trains running late and reaching a station beyond 10pm or before 6am, bedrolls will not be delivered and treated as non-delivery by IRCTC.

The bedrolls can be booked in advance, from 60 days before the day of travel to up to five hours before scheduled departure of train.

CancellationA passenger can cancel or amend his order through IRCTC Tourism with the registered ID. To avail the refund, cancellation or amendment has to be done before five hours of scheduled departure and the cancellation charges of 20% will apply. For cancellations done within five hours of the scheduled departure, no refund will be granted.

The Refund amount will be credited to the card account through which the original booking was made. IRCTC will also refund 100% charges to the passenger in case of non-delivery.

One toll free number 1323 will give all the information about kits, availability & cost. This will be operational only between 6am and 10pm.

Current AvailabilityCurrently, the scheme would be available only at Chennai Central Railway Station and Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station. This scheme will be extended to other stations in the country in phases. The list of stations available for online booking of bed rolls will be updated by the Railways as more stations are added to this scheme.

Misled By IRCTC, Customer Got Compensation Of Rs 7,000

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Know Why This Small Town In Tamil Nadu Is In The Guinness Book Of World Records

Did you know there is a town at the southern tip of India that can be called ‘Heaven on Earth’. Its people realise the importance of keeping the environment clean.

Madukkarai Panchayat in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, is the cleanest place in India, owing to around 50 women who wake up every day to collect waste from each and every household in the town. At 6 AM, the women set out to work with their green jackets on, hands covered in gloves and caps adjusted perfectly on their heads. Every morning they line up for the roll call. These ‘Green Friends’ are part of the solid waste management program supported by ACC Cement – Madukkarai.

Madukkarai, a small town at the tip of the country, is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest recycling lesson in the world. With the help of around 50 women, who are now called ‘Green Friends’, and a simple, scalable model, this town is leading the way for efficient waste management. #SwachhBharat

While most of us find someone to put the blame on, Madukkarai decided to take control in their own hands. The town has 8,000 households and a population of 42,000. 82% of the homes hand over garbage to ‘Green Friends’ every day. 1,440 tonnes of garbage is collected annually from the town of 18 wards and 107 streets.

There is a lot that we can learn from Madukkarai. One of the most disturbing realities that we face, despite which part of the country we reside in, is the similar dirt everywhere – garbage piled up on roadside, drains clogged with plastic bags and dogs chewing on the leftover food we have callously thrown on the streets.

We keep our homes clean; make sure that the floors are mopped every day. But why do we not share the same sentiment for our surroundings? We hardly realize that the street outside our home is as much ours as is anybody else’s. We are the ones who use these roads every day to commute. Madukkarai realized this and the importance of a clean environment for our health and well-being.

Guinness Book of World Records for the largest recycling lesson in the world

‘Green Friends’ collect household wastes in eight different bins for wet waste, kitchen waste, plastic waste, etc. This is then disposed in large bins kept in several parts of the town. Trucks pick up this waste daily and take it to the resource recovery park where the garbage is recycled.

The treatment center segregates the different types of wastes. The kitchen waste is converted into fertilizers and given to farmers at extremely low prices to use in cultivation of their crops. The plastic waste is processed to be used in the construction of roads, and also at the large ACC factory where it is used as fuel at high temperatures which does not even cause pollution.

Due to the efforts of ‘Green Friends’, the citizens of Madukkarai, and the municipality, there has been a 60% reduction in landfill waste over the span of three years. There has also been a 50% reduction in the vehicle movement to the landfill sites, 85% of organic waste is converted successfully into vermin compost, ample reduction in the use of fossil fuels, reduction in greenhouse gas emission to 60%, and substantial decrease in the spread of malaria and dengue among the people. Furthermore, barren lands provided for compost yard have been successfully converted into fully functional organic compost yard and non-recyclable waste is used as an alternative energy source for the cement industry.

Madukkarai’s citizens have also become more environment-friendly, with 30% of the households segregating the organic-recyclable waste at home.

What we can learn

Madukkarai has paved the way to the sustainable development of our world. They have shown us that is not impossible to keep our environment clean. All we need is to inculcate in us a concern for mother Earth. It is commendable that ACC is supporting Madukkarai in its venture and helping it stay clean.

We, as citizens of other towns, cities, villages and states in India, have a lot to learn from Madukkarai. We too can have a healthier life if only we care enough and practice our civil duties proudly.